Rhea blog post #3

So far, I have been settling into Japan quite well. I will say that balancing shortened school work whilst also trying to travel everywhere is not exactly ideal, and I find myself forgetting most of the assignments due in class or just generally running behind. Our newest hurdle to overcome being, the final presentation we have to end off this term (and the test a couple days after it as well). My topic is about comparing the Canadian national animal of the beaver with one of Japan’s more famous animals. Japan does not technically have a national animal so I had to settle for one most local would recognise or know form hearing the name. With that I picked the Japanese snow monkey. I had never known about this animal before my stay here but now that I have had the time to research everything about it, It’s got to be said that I’m in love with these monkeys and all the cute photos I keep finding of them. I started to talk about the whereabouts of where each animal lives. Beaver’s mostly residing within Canada but also living is some parts of America as well. The Japanese monkey lives all over Japan. However, they are not spotted anywhere in Okinawa or Hokkaido. This may have to do with extreme temperatures from both hot and cold climates, as these two locations are the farthest north and south of Japan. I moved on from location and started going in depth about the physical appearances of both animals. Such as the webbed feet or large tail and teeth of the beaver, or the multiple different furs and red face of the Japanese monkey. I also went into why some of these appearances are necessary, like for making dams, swimming, or withstanding colder temperatures. Moving slides to what is most natural for these animals to eat. I found out quickly that the Japanese monkeys are willing to eat just about any kind of food handed to them (much like other monkeys all around the world). Whilst the beaver likes to stick to mostly small plants and tree bark. I thought it was necessary to dive into what these animals do on a day to day basis. So, for that I added a “Hobby’ slide which explains more about the buildings of the dams, and how the monkeys like to sunbathe, groom each other, and make snowballs. I wanted to end my presentation and research on a lighter note so I went into interesting facts for each animal. These aren't really scientific facts, but events that involve both parties. So, for this I talked about the world-famous beaver tail dessert in Canada. They taste like pastries and are supposed to look like beaver tails (they are not real beaver tails however). All my teachers seemed to like that addition to my slide as they had no idea about these desserts. I also talked about the Japanese monkeys and their loves for Japanese onsen's. They are the only mammals so far that enjoy relaxing in the onsen's and I think that is adorable. With this my presentation was finished and now I just have to practice the script and wait till the final day comes next week. Wish me luck I hope to make everyone smile with my pictures of very cute animals.